The smart fortwo cabrio Launches Its Commercial Campaign and It's a Funny One

At the core of the campaign stands the tagline “Open for anything!”, which is an obvious attempt at positioning the new open top smart as a very bold and fun car that appeals to the young generation. That actually sounds just about right.

The campaign will cover all the available media, including some rather nice innovations such as the “Virtual Test Drive Experience.” As the name suggests, this will give any interested customers the chance to experience the joys of open top urban motoring first hand with the help of a virtual reality set. Sitting in the passenger seat, the winter scenery outside will be quickly forgotten as the client is taken into a summery urban setting where “unexpected discoveries await.” The feature will be available from February 18 until the end of March in certain major European cities such as Berlin, Zurich, London and Brussels.

Sticking to the virtual world, the new campaign will make its presence felt on the world wide web as well, particularly on the major social networks. The agency has come up with a viral video that puts together people who know each other very well in a smart fortwo cabrio. Couples, best friends or mother and daughters are going to have to play a special game (see third video below) where the passenger asks the driver randomly generated questions that he or she has to answer with yes or no. A lie detector is there to acknowledge if the person is telling the truth, and if they lie, the roof closes and the test drive comes to an end.

Finally, there are the conventional TV commercials, only these are some of the best we’ve seen in a while. Well, at least one of them. Called the “First Date,” the 30-second spot is based on a pretty lame parallel between the open top and the persons in the car opening up, but it manages to be funny and entertaining. The second one is called “Nosey Dad” and shows the awkward conversation between a father who admits to reading his daughter’s Facebook messages.

You can watch the two clips here, as well as the print executions, which are somewhat disappointing. The whole campaign has been orchestrated by the BBDO agency in Berlin, Germany.